India's Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee has cancelled a planned visit later this month to Syria, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan due to the impending Iraq war, an official said Wednesday.

"The visit which was at a planning stage has been postponed because of the evolving international situation," a foreign ministry official said, according to AFP. An Indian media report said the trip was to start on March 28.

A newspaper said the decision to cancel was made because the Prime Minister's aircraft would be flying too close to the war zone.

The airspace of Pakistan is blocked for Indian aircraft, hence Vajpayee's plane would have to overfly Iran to reach Syria and the two Central Asian countries, the paper reported. It said officials felt it would also be better for the Indian leader to be in New Delhi to give directions on managing the Iraq situation. (Albawaba.com)